The Climate Change Commission (CCC) Vice Chairperson and Executive Director Robert E.A. Borje underscored resilience as a reform in his keynote address at the “The Resilience Agenda: a National Policy Dialogue on Disaster and Climate Resilience" held at the Hilton Manila, Pasay City.

Manila, Philippines – The Climate Change Commission (CCC) underscored the need to shift from reactive to preventive, data-driven, and systems-based approaches to resilience during “The Resilience Agenda: A National Policy Dialogue on Disaster and Climate Resilience.”

In his keynote address, CCC Vice Chairperson and Executive Director Robert E.A. Borje emphasized that resilience in the Philippines must evolve beyond coping with disasters toward anticipating and preventing them.

“Our resilience has not evolved in calm conditions. It has been shaped—sometimes painfully—by the disasters that tested our institutions and our resolve,” Borje said. “Each major event left lessons and, eventually, laws. But this pattern—of pain leading to policy—shows both our strength and our unfinished work. We have been excellent at responding after loss and damage. Now we must learn to legislate, plan, and act before it. Resilience must become anticipatory—preventive, data-driven, and sustained.”

Borje stressed that this shift requires institutionalizing systems that plan and act before disasters strike, anchored on science, foresight, and accountability. He said that strengthening data systems, policy coherence, and inter-agency coordination is key to protecting lives, livelihoods, and development gains from the compounded impacts of climate change and disasters.

Borje said that true resilience goes beyond recovery, emphasizing that it should be measured by how effectively the country can prevent loss, protect lives, and sustain progress amid climate and disaster risks.

“The story of the Philippines has always been a story of resilience—tested by storms, strengthened by community, and sustained by faith in our people,” he said. “But resilience is not about how often we can rebuild. It is about how rarely we are destroyed.”

He further emphasized that delivering resilience requires a shift “from reaction to reform, from rebuilding to readiness.” This, he noted, reflects the CCC’s commitment to strengthen data governance, science-based policymaking, and national–local convergence under the administration of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. to ensure that climate and disaster risk management systems are coherent.

Borje also highlighted ongoing national frameworks, including the National Adaptation Plan (NAP 2023–2050), the Philippine Development Plan (PDP 2023–2028), and the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Plan (NDRRMP), as part of a unified approach linking climate science, governance, and community action.

Through Accelerated Climate Action and Transformation for Local Communities (ACT Local), the CCC helps local governments translate data into evidence-based climate actions. Many, however, still face gaps in capacity, information, and financing. ACT Local must evolve into a sustained system of local climate governance. 

The People’s Survival Fund opens wider funding opportunities for nature-based and community-driven adaptation projects, especially for LGUs most in need. However, gaps in approval processes, timelines, and accessibility persist. Addressing these will help ensure that climate finance reaches vulnerable communities faster and more effectively.

Borje underscored that the commitment to improve climate governance remains a priority under the Marcos administration. 

“Resilience cannot rest on one office or one administration. It must rest on one nation—guided by science, informed by data, and united in discipline,” Borje said.

The conference, organized by the Agence Française de Développement (AFD), Expertise France, and the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) through the Disaster Risk Reduction Enhancement at Local Level Technical Assistance (DRREAL-TA) project, gathered representatives from national and local governments, development partners, civil society organizations, and the academe to discuss strategies for strengthening coherence in the country’s resilience agenda.

The CCC’s participation underscored its continuing role in steering the country’s climate policy and promoting coherence across sectors and levels of governance toward a climate-resilient Philippines.